远程开放教育英语学习者辍学研究

本研究针对广东地区远程开放教育英语本科辍学者,采用个体访谈形式调查、剖析辍学者辍学的心理动因,对辍学现象进行全方位的深描,试图通过辍学者的个人体验和意义阐释,探求远程英语学习者的辍学原因。对访谈内容采用内容分析方法进行分析。研究发现,影响远程开放教育英语本科学习者放弃学业的主要因素是:情感在场的影响、情感交互程度低、工学矛盾。本研究试图为远程教育实践机构有的放矢地制定相关措施,减少辍学人数提供有益参考。     

Impact of degree program satisfaction on the persistence of college students

Many theories on college retention recognize the significance of student satisfaction as a positive factor in students’ persistence. Yet, there are few theories that address the relationship of degree program satisfaction to study behaviour and dropout. This paper explores the impact of degree program satisfaction on academic accomplishment and dropout. The impact of degree program satisfaction was studied within a multitheoretical framework. The results of the study show that student accomplishment not only depends on differences in academic ability but also on degree program satisfaction. Decreased degree program satisfaction appears to diminish both study motivation and study behaviour. The authors discuss some implications for current educational practice.     

基于辍学研究的电大课程教学反思——以“变化中的英语”课程为例

本文基于电大辍学归因研究中的学习负荷问题展开讨论。调查显示,学习负荷过高造成了许多电大学生在学习道路上的无功而返,而学习的高负荷是由课程难度与学生学术水平之间的落差所造成的。本研究旨在通过对电大课程教学过程的审视,探究其学术支持服务手段的有效性。本研究以2011年3-6月上海电大A分校2010春英语专业本科层次"变化中的英语"课程教学为个案,通过面授课堂观察、课程形成性考核记录、网上教学记录、课程期末考试成绩聚焦课程教学效果。研究结果显示,电大的课程教学支持服务手段仍停留于传统教学模式,而作为重要学习辅助手段的网上学习,其形式意义占据和弥漫于抽样所在班级师生的观念中,导致学习支持的可获得性受到制约;同时,由于任课教师在电大体制下被层层嵌于一个庞大的系统之中,教师的能动性在改善课程教学效果时会受到一定程度上的限制;第三,在多方原因的共同作用下,现行教学模式下学生的课业表现与预期课程教学目标之间存有潜在的些微差距,会在一定程度上影响任课教师对自身课程教学的判断和调整。改变这种状况,电大教学组织制度的变革和对教师支持服务力度的加强势在必行。     

美国艺术教育的几个热点问题

从美国艺术教育研究的三个项目,管窥美国艺术教育三个不同领域的研究:哈佛大学“零点项目”中的一项成果“艺术教育并不必然提高学生的综合学习能力与成绩”,强调重视艺术教育本身不可替代的价值;“艺术教育与辍学率”,揭示出艺术教育能够“延缓孩子辍学时间和延长在校学习时间”的事实,间接证明了艺术教育对在校学习的积极影响;“教学艺术家”的研究,从艺术家从教的各个环节入手,系统地探索、总结这一师资角色的发展和社会作用.     

父母外出务工与留守子女辍学——基于CHNS调查数据的经验分析

利用中国健康与营养调查(CHNS)数据,本研究对农村父母外出务工与留守子女初、高中阶段辍学行为之间的关系进行了实证分析。结果表明:父亲外出务工会显著降低留守子女初、高中阶段的辍学概率,母亲外出务工则会显著增加留守子女初中阶段的辍学概率。此外,免费义务教育政策的实施在较大程度上降低了留守子女的初、高中阶段的辍学概率;与那些父母受教育程度较低的留守子女相比,父母受教育程度越高的留守子女越不容易辍学;家庭子女数和机会成本会提高留守子女初中阶段辍学的概率。因此,为降低农村中学阶段子女辍学率,政府应当增加农村妇女当地就业机会以减少母亲外出的影响、推进户籍制度改革使随迁子女能获得同等的教育机会,并为高中阶段和多子女家庭提供教育补贴。     

义务教育均衡发展背景下农村地区“隐性辍学”现象研究

随着＂两免一补＂政策的贯彻实施,我国农村地区的义务教育事业迈上了一个新的台阶,这是中国教育史上一个重要的里程碑。然而,虽然全国范围内辍学率都有所降低,但是农村地区＂隐性辍学＂的现象却不断增多。为解决这一问题,应加深对农村地区＂隐性辍学＂现象的表现形式和成因的研究,同时,从如下几点解决此问题：调整政策决策方向,建立综合评价机制,形成多元培养模式。     

Do sports help students stay away from misbehavior,suspension, or dropout?

This paper explores whether high-school sports are functional and accessible activities to keep students from school disciplinary behaviors. For this purpose, we included students racial and linguistic status, socioeconomic status, sex, and prior academic performance with the school’s proportion of free-lunch recipients and minorities, to understand how sport participation affects students of diverse groups. Additionally, the study implemented a multilevel mediation modeling to the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) data and assessed student dropouts with sequential mediators of sport participation, school misbehavior, and suspension. The findings of the study largely revealed that White students participated in sports more than Black, Hispanic, and Asian. Likewise, students who speak English as the primary language and male students participated in sports more than their counterparts. White sport participants displayed fewer incidents of suspension than White non-sport participants. Black, Hispanic, and White sport participants had lower dropout incidents than their non-sport-participating counterparts.     

Dimensionality and reliability of a screening instrument for students at-risk of dropping out from Higher Education

Dropout stems from a complex, gradual process of decision-making in which the demands and benefits of university attendance are weighed. Early identification of at-risk students benefits from quick and large-scale screening instruments. This study presents the dimensionality of a screening instrument for students at risk of dropping out of Higher Education, integrating three scales: Academic Exhaustion, Satisfaction with Education and Dropout Intention. A sample of 611 first-year university students was considered in the statistical analysis. The results demonstrate evidence of internal and external validity as well as the reliability of the screening instrument scores. The differences in correlation coefficients between these three scales and the students’ intentions of completing the course and completing their education at their university, evaluated at two different points during the first semester, suggest that dropout analysis requires collecting information throughout the process of adjustment to higher education.     

Learner pregnancy in South Africa’s Eastern Cape: The Factors affecting adolescent girls' school withdrawal during pregnancy

An early pregnancy often puts an end to a girls’ education. However, few studies have investigated which factors affect adolescents’ school discontinuation during pregnancy. This study interviewed 1,046 adolescent mothers from the Eastern Cape province in South Africa. The results showed that a quarter of school-going adolescent girls withdrew from school during the pregnancy - many as early as the first trimester. School withdrawal was associated with higher poverty, higher grade repetition, an unplanned and unwanted pregnancy, and greater lack of information about the pregnancy. Given the high enrolment rates at the onset of the pregnancy, school-based services may provide an opportunity to identify which girls require substantial support to remain in education throughout pregnancy, using a history of poor school performance as an indicator for dropout.     

Interventions in education to prevent STEM pipeline leakage

The so-called leaking STEM pipeline (dropout in STEM education) has been the subject of many studies. The large interest of scholars in plausible causes of this leakage has resulted in a number of meta-reviews describing factors at system, school and student level related to interest and persistence in STEM education. The STEM pipeline discussion has also resulted in a large number of programmes aimed at enhancing STEM interest and persistence in STEM education. Although these programmes have been widely evaluated, there seems to be no consensus about which interventions are successful in raising interest in STEM or persistence in STEM education. This study reports the results of a systematic review of empirical studies in which the effectiveness of STEM-related interventions are assessed. Initially, 538 studies were found. The quality analyses showed that only a few of these evaluation studies are designed in such a way that it is likely that the found effects are caused by the intervention. Although some potentially effective interventions were found, this review shows that there is still a need for research into the effectiveness of those programmes, especially with regard to programmes preventing talented and initially motivated STEM students to drop out of STEM education.